Naomi Klein: Enough. It's time for a boycott (As was done to stop Apartheid in South Africa)

Guardian ^ | 10 January 2009 | Naomi Klein

[GOPGuide]

It's time. Long past time. The best strategy to end the increasingly bloody occupation is for Israel to become the target of the kind of global movement that put an end to apartheid in South Africa. In July 2005 a huge coalition of Palestinian groups laid out plans to do just that. They called on "people of conscience all over the world to impose broad boycotts and implement divestment initiatives against Israel similar to those applied to South Africa in the apartheid era". The campaign Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions was born.

Every day that Israel pounds Gaza brings more converts to the BDS cause - even among Israeli Jews. In the midst of the assault roughly 500 Israelis, dozens of them well-known artists and scholars, sent a letter to foreign ambassadors in Israel. It calls for "the adoption of immediate restrictive measures and sanctions" and draws a clear parallel with the anti-apartheid struggle. "The boycott on South Africa was effective, but Israel is handled with kid gloves ... This international backing must stop."

Yet even in the face of these clear calls, many of us still can't go there. The reasons are complex, emotional and understandable. But they simply aren't good enough. Economic sanctions are the most effective tool in the non-violent arsenal: surrendering them verges on active complicity. Here are the top four objections to the BDS strategy, followed by counter-arguments.

Punitive measures will alienate rather than persuade Israelis.

The world has tried what used to be called "constructive engagement". It has failed utterly. Since 2006 Israel has been steadily escalating its criminality: expanding settlements, launching an outrageous war against Lebanon, and imposing collective punishment on Gaza through the brutal blockade.

[sergeantdave]

Guess it’s time to stock up on Jewish/Polish kielbasa.

[Malesherbes]

Safe in Canada, is she? I wonder for how long.

[Laur]

A strange example for Klein to use, as S. Africa is now a mess. Maybe the boycott worked, but the country didn’t

[adorno]

Define “physical”.

Physical, as in the physical world, like Hitler versus Jesus Christ.

[NicknamedBob]

A campaign of non-violence to end the violent response to unending violence. The mind reels.

I thought BDS stood for something else.

[goldstategop]

The Jews For A Second Holocaust are a sick bunch of folks... secular Far Leftists and the pretend pious Neturei Karta sect. What they want for Jews is the fate every Nazi and anti-Semite on the planet has in mind for them. I keep thinking of Isaiah: "your destroyers will come forth from your midst." For some reason, Jewish self-hatred is rooted both in insecurity and a desperate need to gain the approval of others. Its pathetic!

"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." - Manuel II Palelologus

[goldstategop]

It escapes the irony of the Far Left that its been the Arabs have tried all the BDS tools against Israel for six decades and Israel has emerged stronger than ever. They're the biggest promoters of boycott, disvestment and sanctions on the planet. Yet their shunning Israel has only left them more backwards and weaker compared to the Jewish State. Some people, such as Klein aren't wont to learn from reality.

"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." - Manuel II Palelologus